North Notes
Spokane North Rotary Club Bulletin
August 1, 2016
Briefly:
          Parting ways: Past-president Bruce Ellwein announced that he will be moving this fall to the Tucson, Ariz., office of First Command Financial Services.  “It was an opportunity where you don’t get asked more than once,” said Bruce.  A certified financial planner, Bruce has worked at First Command 12 years, following 20 years in the Air Force.  First Command is based in Fort Worth, Texas.
 
Exchange students visit the club
            Chris Lynch, who coordinates youth leadership and youth exchange programs for the club, brought two students from Spain to join two North Central High exchange students at the Aug. 1 meeting.
 
   Alvara                  Giovanni                    Marina               Ally     
                                                                                                                                                                                       
            Guests included Giovanni DeLeon, a senior this fall at NC, and his exchange partner, Alvara Brotons, of Alicante, Spain, and Ally Egger, a recent NC grad and her partner, Marina Bautista, of Madrid.
 
 
            Giovanni narrated a Power Point picture presentation of local Alicante sights and their travels around Spain.  The photos featured canons, castles, plazas, public markets        and miles of sandy beaches.
 
            Alicante is a city of 340,000 on the Mediterranean’s Costa Blanca.  Giovanni and Alvara also traveled to Denia, a city of 30,000 about 50 miles north of Alicante.  Denia is a short ferry ride from two popular Spanish islands, Ibiza and Mallorca.
 
            Marina’s hometown of Madrid is a city of 3.3 million in a metropolis of 6.5 million in central Spain, four hours from Alicante. 
 
            Marina said she wants to study nursing and Alvara is studying computers.  Ally is interested in becoming a teacher, perhaps in a third-world country. Giovanni, an NC honor student, wrestles in the 152-pound class and member Steve Boharski said one of his sons also wrestles in that weight class for Mead.
 
          Life in Spain for many, the students said, means breakfast between 8 and 10 a.m., lunch about 2:30, followed by a siesta for many, and dinner at 9 p.m.  Ally added that the meals are much smaller than American-style servings.  “There is no food left for carry-out,” she said, adding, “you are full but can still move after the meal.”
 
            Lynch said the exchange program participants usually find the experience “truly life changing.”  The exchanges, she added, “ promote international peace, goodwill and understanding of other cultures.”  Typical exchanges are three weeks, but many extend to four weeks, she said.
 
The bulletin producers:
 
Bulletin editors: Chuck Rehberg and Sandy Fink
 
Photos: Eric Johnson
 
Program coordinator: Brad Stark